Before passengers proceed to boarding gates on Departure level (Level 3), they need to walk through an open air area. There is a dedicated smoking area, some place to sit and relax as well as some greeneries.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 06.11.20

When klia2 is constructed, a new control tower is also built. It holds the record as the highest control tower in the world with height above 100 meters.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 06.09.55

A lot of AirAsia aircraft can be seen at the gates, ready for their early morning departure.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 06.06.13

Taxiway

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 06.05.44

This is the smoking area for klia2.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 06.05.30

Another view of AirAsia Airbus A320 aircraft. To save maintenance and training costs, they have decided to use only a single type of Aircraft, namely Airbus A320.

I flew AirAsia to from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on Tuesday, October 14th 2014. The main purpose of the trip is to take a look at the newly-launched klia2 terminal and Penang International Airport which has been renovated recently.

Since it’s an early flight, I decided to come to the airport really early and spend half of my night there. I took the earliest bus available from KL Sentral, which is at 3 AM.

I took Skybus, the official shuttle bus for AirAsia. Other than KL Sentral, Skybus also offer service between 1 Utama and klia2, aimed for those who want to avoid KL traffic jam or just want to buy something at the shopping mall before boarding their aircraft.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 05.56.46

It feels very much like an airport in a shopping mall rather than vice versa. There is A LOT of retail space available, making even one-day transit seems short for travelers.

For some unknown reasons, klia2 self check-in kiosks are there for months already but they have not been operating yet.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 05.58.44

The food court is now operational and they offer a good array of Malaysian delicacies. Did I tell you it comes with an affordable price too?

There is also Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) on Level 2 and the server there is well-trained for tourists. Regardless whether I look Malaysian or not, they will greet and smile at me. There is quite a number of waitstaff in restaurants who only smile at you and treat you nice if you dress up real decent or look like tourists from Western countries.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 05.58.59

Level 2M or 2 Mezzanine is dubbed as “relaxation zone with generous space to relax and unwind. Some overnight travelers even sleep here.

We can see most of the signages have estimated walking time displayed, enabling people who aren’t familiar with the airport to estimate their time walking to the gate. Being an airport with huge retail space, this will increase foot traffic into the shops.

klia2 Terminal, KL International Airport 2014-10-14 05.59.58

One more minute to departures gate.

This is the end of Part 1, I will tell you more about klia2 in Part 2 soon.

Family members of Loh Yan Hwa

Loh, 54 and her Dutch husband, 60 are the operators of a Chinese restaurant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Their remains were laid to rest at Kek Lok Si Temple, Air Itam, Penang on September 2nd. Loh’s mother, Siew Poh has yet to be identified.

Other Families

SHALIZA ZAINI DEWA
The remains have been identified and the family wishes to handle the funeral privately.

FOO MING LEE
Body brought back on August 22nd

KAELAMAYAJAY GOES
Remains brought back on September 2nd

SUBASHNI RETNAM
Remains brought back on September 2nd

KARAMJIT SINGH KARNAIL SINGH
Body brought back on August 22nd

BENJAMIN LEE JIAN HAN
Remains brought back on September 9th

MOHD ALI BIN MD SALIM
Body brought back on August 22nd

MELING MULA – He was an offshore worker in Venezuela with a scaffolding company based in Kuala Lumpur.
Body brought back on October 3rd

ELISABETH NG LYETI
Body brought back on August 22nd

NG QING ZHENG
Body brought back on August 22nd

NG SHI ING
Body brought back on August 24th

NOOR RAHIMMAH MOHD NOR
Body brought back on August 22nd

HASNI HARDI BIN PARLAN
Body brought back on August 22nd

KAUSHALYA JAIRAMDAS PUNJABI

(PUAN SRI) SITI AMIRAH BINTI PARAWIRA, 83 is the step-grandmother of Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Transport Minister, DS Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. On November 1st 2014, her remains has been identified but she will be laid to rest at Amsterdam.

ELAINE TEOH, a Malaysian from Penang who was living and working in Melbourne, Australia in financial sector. She is the first Malaysian to be identified.
Remains have been identified but final resting place is unknown.

Although there is a large-scale protest going on in Hong Kong, flights are operating normally as scheduled. However, passengers are advised to give themselves extra time to accommodate delays that might arise due to the event.

Read more from Malaysia Airlines below:

Malaysia Airlines flights to and from Hong Kong are operating as scheduled in spite of the protest that is currently taking place at central Hong Kong.

The airline would like to advise passengers to plan their journey to Hong Kong International Airport ahead of time to avoid road closures or traffic diversions and encourage to commute via the express train to get to the airport.

Malaysia Airlines flies four times daily between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong on MH448/449, MH72/73, MH432/433 and MH78/79; and daily between Kota Kinabalu and Hong Kong on MH384/385.

For any queries, please contact Malaysia Airlines’ call centre at 1-300-88-3000 (in Malaysia) or Malaysia Airlines Hong Kong office at 852) 2916 0088. Alternatively, passengers can log on towww.malaysiaairlines.com and select ‘Flight Status’ option for further updates on the situation.